Friday, May 28, 2004
Work It, Baby, Work ItI changed the oil in my car this evening. Actually I just finished. What a way to end a Friday evening.
Changing my oil late at night is par for the course this weird week. Earlier this evening, I went to the YMCA, which is normal. I climbed on a treadmill (still normal) and started running (so far so good). Then I realized my feet felt funny. I looked down to see that I was wearing sandals. I'd forgotten to change into running shoes. Oh, well. Some gyms have policies forbidding such things, but not our local Y, so I just ran in sandals. What the hell.
Anyway, I decided to change my own oil, both to save a few bucks and for the experience of it. I did learn a few things, most of them banal. - For all the oil to drain properly takes about 30 minutes (remember, all the nasty stuff—bits of metal and so forth—comes out last). You will note that no oil change facility waits even close to that long.
- The place where I've been getting my oil changed uses cheap, no-name oil filters. I wonder what kind of oil they've been using?
- It's totally possible to change oil without becoming covered with oil, or experiencing any other major hassles. I'd really wondered about this part, having not changed the oil in anything other than a motorcycle in almost 20 years, and I seem to recall I made a mess of it every time back then.
- No special tool is needed to remove/install the oil filter, provided you tap on it with a mallet while turning (hard) with the other hand. And provided you're angry enough. I'm going to get the special tool for next time.
- I found the whole experience much more deeply satisfying than I'd have ever guessed.
I remember when I changed college majors a couple of years ago, switching from electronics engineering to computer programming, the programming instructor who became my advisor explained that she'd made the same switch, and that she'd realized the need to switch while changing the oil on her car. She said she'd realized that, while she could do it, she'd much rather pay someone else to do it and spend her time more productively/enjoyably. At the time, I agreed with her. Now I'm thinking she missed the point; and I can't help but wonder whether I should have stuck with electronics a little longer.
No way! Fiddling with all those little wires can drive a person insane. And I'm sure when I have a proper job programming computers that I'll have better things to do on a Friday night than changing my own oil. Or writing about it for that matter. Still, it's fun for now.
Now if I can just remember to dress properly before leaving the house next time....
Posted by Me at 22:33 link
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Reality Check34 days until the handover of power in Iraq.
158 days until the November elections.
Maybe the Abu Ghraib prison scandal shouldn't be so surprising. Just look at the way we treat our own citizens. - Prisoner advocates report that the abusive, degrading, dehumanizing tactics used on Iraqi prisoners are business as usual in US prisons.
- With one of every 75 American men in prison (and growing), the US incarcerates more of its citizens than any other nation on earth (one of every eight African-Americans in their 20s is in prison).
- We remain one of the few "civilized" nations still using the death penalty, despite evidence that it does little to deter crime.
- Most Americans seem to be very much in favor of this. "Serves 'em right. They got what they deserve."
Who have we become?
Posted by Me at 22:51 link
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Music In My HeadMy music today was all over the place. My mood today followed my music. Or more probably vice versa.
Posted by Me at 23:09 link
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
What happens when you ass-u-meBeware of all enterprises that require new clothes.
-Henry David Thoreau
I totally expected to excel at the kayaking class I took this past weekend.
After all, I've been paddling rowboats and canoes since early childhood, and I've long been comfortable piloting sailboats, powerboats, whitewater rafts and so forth. Besides, I went "kayaking" the past two summers and found it to be a breeze. So I figured the only thing left was to learn the eskimo roll and start honing my skills on progressively more thrilling water.
Turns out the "kayaks" I was in previously were recreational kayaks, which are basically canoes with decks. Turns out, whitewater kayaks are substantially different, with rounded, keelless bottoms and extremely sensitive steering and balance, requiring a whole different skill set (and a big bucket of patience).
Turns out, I pretty much suck at kayaking. Which pissed me off and made for a weird, frustrating weekend.
And maybe I'm just weird, but it really bothered me that, out of the six books about kayaking the instructors brought, not one contained more than a single sentence about the history of kayaking.
Besides, I'm not much of a joiner, so the thought of a three-day group activity with twenty strangers made me itch. But that part was fine; they turned out to be a very easy group to get along with. The instruction was good. The weather was perfect. And the water was perfect (except for the water I managed to get into my sinuses; I know it's my imagination, but I swear I can still smell that pond when I breathe).
But once I realized how bad I was at getting the boat to go where I wanted it to go, and at keeping it upright—and how much work it would take to change those things (which I began to realize early on the first day), I was ready for the weekend to be over.
I did finish the course, though I hated almost every minute of it. I just don't handle well being among the slower students in a class. Looking back, I understand that the problem was expectation versus reality. Again. Once again I'm reminded that it's better not to expect anything. Ever.
What I really don't understand is why I want to kayak again as soon as possible. Lord deliver me from adrenaline addiction!
Posted by Me at 23:39 link
Monday, May 24, 2004
Version 2.10?Thanks for the comments/suggestions.
Gael, I agree on the background colors. I hope these are better. I had been sticking to the "safety palette" of 216 colors that older browsers can display, but I decided to live a little. I figure if someone has trouble viewing this because they're using Windows 3.1 or whatever, they're probably used to such things by now.
Ian, thanks for the offer; if I leave this up for very long, I may accept your offer. I confess that I don't see the seam you mentioned. That's actually just one image (four mountain ranges are visible). All I did was to crop and optimize the image. Does it tile on your display?
I find the techincal aspects of (simple) web design easy—but I'm what you might call "aesthetically challenged." I know good stuff when I see it, but creating it myself is something else entirely. I also have a very short "aesthetic attention span," meaning if I work on something involving aesthetic judgement for more than a few minutes at a time, I lose all perspective.
Yeah, I know; yada yada yada. I'll be back with real content tomorrow.
No really, I mean it this time.
Really.
Posted by Me at 23:13 link
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